The Dangers of DIY When You Don't Own the Property

Here at The DIY Helpers we really do try our best to give you a helping hand when it comes to the delicate matter of carrying out DIY without it turning into a total disaster; otherwise we wouldn’t really live up to our name, would we? On the other hand, we do realise that some people are so bad at DIY that they may be beyond helping. That’s not because they can’t be trained to be better at DIY, but because they themselves don’t make any real effort to learn how to do it better. Take this guy for example, who will now have to pay out £5,000 simply because his DIY was awful.

George Brassington decided to carry out his own improvements on the three-bedroom council house he lived in with his wife. During the 20 years they spent in the home George managed to get around to fitting new doors, a sink and building a shed in the garden. He also knocked down a pantry at the side of the kitchen so they could fit a tumble dryer and got some colleagues to help with plumbing and electrical work (read the '4 household DIY tasks you should never tackle yourself').

The couple have now moved out of the house, but a council inspection of the vacated property found that, in their opinion, there was £5,000 worth of damage done by this DIY and has handed the bill to George. £2,500 is for a complete re-wire of the house, while £2,300 is to be used to replace the doors, kitchen units, skirting boars and curtain rails. Obviously George isn’t too happy about this:

'The letter came as a massive shock. As far as I was concerned the work I did over the years was of a good quality and added value to the house. 'We lived there for 20 years so were bound to change some things and I wanted to make the place looking nice. I’m not a DIY disaster - far from it, I used to work in the building trade.

He also said that he got a reputable electrician in to fit security lights, not a cowboy, and all the work was carried out by professionals with quality materials. First Choice Homes Oldham, who own the house, have at least said he can pay off the bill at £3.55 a week – although he’ll be 97 by the time he makes the final payment! George believes he's a great DIYer, but the council obviously believe otherwise.

George may be adamant that he’s done a great job and isn’t one to botch up DIY jobs, but he did forget one important thing. Councils in the UK require you to seek written consent for any improvements they wish to carry out in council residences, so while they aren’t banned from making no improvements at all they still need to make sure that the work is carried out to an acceptable standard.

Here’s what councils can expect, although it may differ slightly depending on where you live in the country so be sure to check with them first.

• All improvements, modifications and renovations must be granted permission before the work is to begin. 
• Councils must be allowed access to inspect any work you carry out. 
• All work must comply with planning or building regulations.
• The work must be carried out by a competent person, and any work involving electricity or gas must be carried out by a suitably qualified person.
• You are responsible for any damage done to the property as a result of any work you carry out.
• Normally you must meet the full cost of the work. 
• A lot of tenancy agreements, especially by private landlords, will say that anything you change will also need to be put the property back into its original state (or sometimes they will request that leave the improvement in, not take it to your new home), even if the improvements are better than what was originally in the home.

At the end of the day you should always follow your tenancy agreements if you desire to start doing some DIY in your home. I live in a privately rented home and we always ask the landlord before we move ahead with any improvements we wish to make. I’d never dream about not asking first as we don’t own the property. If you want to have the freedom to do your own DIY around the home, aside from your significant others objections of course, then you will have to buy your own home. You wouldn’t want someone messing about with your property without permission, would you?